Sign up for Waco Public Radio's newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each week.
Hours after the news of flash flooding in Kerrville and the Hill Country, Rebecca Kennedy was already hearing from Baylor University staff, students and alumni wanting to help.
"Lot’s of Baylor students, staff, families, are directly connected with people in Kerr County," Kennedy said. "So I think that really has hit our community hard."
Kennedy is Associate Dean for Spiritual Life & Missions at Baylor and helps run the BearAid program - the disaster relief leg of Baylor’s local & global missions program.
According to its website, it takes a four-step approach to disaster relief – Pray, stay, raise, and go.
"We might not be able to go into these communities, but we could deliver supplies," Kennedy explained
Part of the first three steps of their approach, is making relief kits. Each kit contains cleaning supplies, gloves, masks, and trash bags. The supplies are meant to provide survivors with a way to clean out their homes from flood damage before mold can begin to take over.
On Wednesday, Baylor faculty and alumni filled 50 relief buckets. Incoming freshman at orientation will fill another 50.
Kennedy said its important for the students to get involved from the beginning of their time at Baylor.
"They haven’t even taken a class, but we want them to feel part of our community," Kennedy said. "We also want them to know they’re responsible for this community."
By next Friday, 200 hundred buckets will be packed, prayed over and on their way to Kerr county, where the flood damage is most severe.
Kennedy said she hopes the people who get the flood buckets know that even though times are tough, their fellow Texans are looking out for them.
"I want them to know they’re loved and prayed for, that we’re not turning our backs on them," she said.
She said the university plans to contribute to long-term recovery, once they get the okay from local officials and relief organizations.
"We’ll send students on teams over the next year or two," Kennedy said. "As long as we can be helpful, we’ll continue to do that."
For now, Kennedy says, her organization will continue to provide support from Waco.
You can learn more about BearAid and how to get involved here.
Got a tip? Email Molly-Jo Tilton at Molly-jo_tilton@baylor.edu.
KWBU is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
